I'm £1600 in credit on my gas. Should I ask for it back or leave it during winter?

williewonder

and ask for it back in April? That £1600 has build up within insufficient time so we probably paying too much? I heard gas prices are going up soon? 

Kim_13

I’d ask for £1,000-£1,250 back.

The price cap has already moved, if you are on it, and will not move again until January. If you get it back you can put it aside in a savings account, rather than having to wait to get it back if your supplier were to go bust.

On-the-coast

Are you really in credit? No estimated readings involved?
and your question is impossible to answer without knowing what your projected winter usage is.  Though £1300 would heat a very large house…

williewonder

3 people in the house, we all pay £290 a month in shared bill kitty for gas. electric and water plus TV package which is £91 a month. Large 4 bed house.

marcia_

williewonder said:

3 people in the house, we all pay £290 a month in shared bill kitty for gas. electric and water plus TV package which is £91 a month. Large 4 bed house.

 If you share the account with others you would need to split the refund. It's possible you will need that credit to cover your winter bills given it's a large with 3 unrelated tenants 

400ixl

Kim_13 said:

I’d ask for £1,000-£1,250 back.

The price cap has already moved, if you are on it, and will not move again until January. If you get it back you can put it aside in a savings account, rather than having to wait to get it back if your supplier were to go bust.

Without knowing when they were last billed, whether they were estimates and how much they actually pay for gas that is a pretty bold statement. May be right, could be hugely inaccurate.

At this time of year you should have 2-3 months of monthly bills in credit to cover the extra use. This is provided you use gas for heating.

When were you last billed for gas? It could be you are only billed every 6 months so have a big bill coming.
Are bills using actual readings, or estimate based and if estimate how close is the latest to actual.

I would give the supplier actual readings and be asked to be billed up to date. Once that is done you can see what the debit / credit position of the account is and make an informed decision.

tim_p

Submit a reading today and see if that amount changes. 

EssexHebridean

As said, make sure that the supplier has accurate readings -do you have a smart meter which sends the readings for you? Do you check that reading if so, and make sure it matches what you are being billed? If no smart meter, make sure one of you is submitting readings monthly to avoid estimated bills. 

Looking back at the billing, have you worked out your actual annual use - not what your supplier estimates, but the actual use using bills with actual readings 12 months apart. From that you will be able to establish whether your current direct debit is set too high - if it is, then the first thing to do is to get that reduced. 

Your situation sounds like a house share, so having a higher than usual level of credit might work as a possible “safeguard” in case of one of your number stopping paying in for bills, for whatever reason - at least having a higher level of credit there would mean that the other two would not have to immediately find money for any shortfall while the situation is resolved. There obviously needs to be a balance on that though.